The Obama administration has reached new levels of cyber espionage, according to the New York Times, which reported this week on an expansive plan to disable Iran's nuclear infrastructure should it ever threaten military conflict.

The plan, which involved thousands of military and intelligence personnel, is currently shelved due to the nuclear agreement between Iran and Western countries that took effect in January. But intensive planning began in 2009, soon after President Obama took office. The proposed operation would have implanted a digital "worm" in the computer systems of Iran's Fordo nuclear facility, according to the Times.

The hacking plan, code named Nitro Zeus, was uncovered during the filming of a documentary by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney about the escalating conflict with Iran in the years leading up to last year's nuclear deal. If a deal never materialized, disabling nuclear facilities using cyber attacks was the main military option short of all-out war.

The Times confirmed the cyber attack plan by conducting its own interviews; the White House and the Pentagon refused to comment.

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That the plan never went into action may be a good thing, since a similar hacking plan hatched by the Bush Administration and continued during Obama's term erupted into a worldwide computer virus in 2010, dubbed Stuxnet, after an Iranian nuclear engineer used his infected computer to browse the web.

Stuxnet infected millions of computers but did little damage to the intended Iranian nuclear targets. In retaliation, Iran kicked its own hacking apparatus into high gear.

In addition to creating military options if negotiations fail, the U.S. is also thought to use cyber attacks as alternatives to diplomacy. Chinese officials have complained that attacks on its government websites originate in from U.S. IP addresses.

About the Author

As a hardware analyst, Tom tests and reviews laptops, peripherals, and much more at PC Labs in New York City. He previously covered the consumer tech beat as a news reporter for PCMag in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, where he rode in several self-driving cars and witnessed the rise and fall of many startups. Before that, he worked for PCMag's s... See Full Bio

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